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YOUR WASHINGTON AND YOU! A WEEKLY REPORT from KARL MUNDT
SENATOR FROM SOUTH DAKOTA
United States Senate
"FOR A FAIR CHANCE FOR A FREE PEOPLE"
VOLUME XI - NUMBER 35 — FOR RELEASE SEPTEMBER 7th OR AFTER
"V-DAY" IN WASHINGTON. Tuesday and Wednesday of last week were "V-Days" in Washington - that is they were Harry
Vaughan's days since they provided his opportunity to appear before the Senate Investigations Committee which for three
weeks has been busy holding hearings on the "influence racket" in Washington.
As most everyone knows, General Harry Vaughan is the Military Aide to the President, received his rank as General
at the President's behest. As very few knew before the investigation began, Harry Vaughan performs many additional functions at the White House not usually associated with the title "Military Aide". Vaughan admitted most of the "extra-curricular"
functions attributed to him, denied he personally profited financially from them,
stated that many of them were performed without the President's personal knowledge.
He also admitted he had received two deep freeze units as gifts from a Chicago
businessman for whom he repeatedly "went to bat" and that he had spoken "ill-advisedly" when he told the press that they and the others (including the one to Mrs. Truman in Independence, Missouri) were "factory rejects". The factory making
the refrigerators and the donor of them both testified that they were definitely
NOT "rejects".
Among the episodes which Vaughan admitted were (1) Deep Freeze gifts from the
Chicago concern above referred to; (2) Injecting himself into the decision of
whether or not the race track operators at the Tanforan race track should get
scarce building materials (for this, Sen. McCarthy of Wisconsin said Vaughan should
resign as Veterans' Coordinator); (3) Repeatedly securing passports, ATC passage,
other contacts for John Maragon, now facing legal action for (a) perjury, (b)
smuggling (while carrying a "Harry Vaughan" letter asking special treatment of him,
(c) tax fraud, for failing to report a large part of his financial transactions the
past four or five years; (4) accepting money while in uniform - against military
regulations - from men and firms for whom he had or did perform White House favors.
Vaughan said these were campaign contributions, not retained by him, and made
either in the Kansas City primary "purge" when Truman's forces defeated Congressman
Roger Slaughter or in the fall election when Slaughter's friends and the GOP defeated Truman's successful primary campaign; (5) Securing a new automobile in Washington for a Wisconsin friend who black-marketed it at a fancy price; (6) Accepting
a campaign contribution from an attorney seeking a Presidential pardon (with success)
for a Federal prisoner. There were other equally disturbing and distressing
admissions by Vaughan.
Vaughan denied profiting personally (except in the deep freeze episode) from
his services as a "conduit" (to use the Vaughan word for it) for money passing from
White House favorites in the field of business, politics, and law to the campaign
bosses in Missouri. He denied sharing in any of Maragon's numerous and bizarre
financial transactions. He denied testimony indicating he had talked abusively to
Department of Agriculture employees whose testimony was that he had. He denied
other items in evidence although on several of them he explained his memory was
naturally "faulty" and "vague". At a time or two he changed his testimony the
second day to contradict what he said the first day after his memory had been
"Refreshed."
As this is written, President Truman has just announced he expects to keep
Vaughan as his Military Aide and White House associate. This news letter has been
interrupted at least a dozen times by reporters calling to ask, "What does Senator
Mundt think about that?" Mundt's answer: "The Democratic Governor of Indiana and
several Democratic Congressmen have asked for General Vaughan's dismissal. It is
not the province of a Republican Senator, as I see it, to determine the code of
ethics nor the standards of good behavior the President desires or requires from his
White House associates. The President is authorized to pick a Military Aide of his
own choosing; it is his decision to make whether General Vaughan's strange activities meet the specifications of what he desires in a Military Aide." -o-
"DAKOTA" ON THE AIR. Lawrence Welk and his band will soon be heard regularly on the
weekly editions of Senator Mundt's "Your Washington On The Air" radio programs.
Beginning next weekend, the South Dakota bandleader's recording of the increasingly
popular dance tune "Dakota" will be used as a theme at both beginning and end of the
broadcast. To make arrangements this office had to cut through as much red tape as
surrounds a Government Bureau. Permission had to be received from Welk, the composer; Paul Cunningham, author of the words; James C. Petrillo, Chief of the Musicians' Union; Broadway Music, Corporation, copyright owner; Standard Transcriptions, Inc. owner of transcription; American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers for broadcast rights, Radio Station WOL, Washington, D.C. for the recording. It took time but permissions were received and next week-end you can hear it if you care to. -o-
"HEADLINE HUNTING". Some writers not familiar with Washington try to dismiss Congressional Hearings as only "headline hunting" by Congressmen. The contrary is true. For 3 weeks from 4 to 15 reporters have visited us daily with inquiries. Not a news
hand-out was made - not a headline sought. The HearINGS not the HearERS made news!

The work from which this copy was made did not include a formal copyright notice. This work may be protected by U.S. copyright law (Title 17, United States Code), which governs reproduction, distribution, public display, and other uses of protected works. Some uses may be legal with permission from the copyright holder, if the copyright on the work has expired, or if the use is fair use or compliance with the law. All use of DLSD material and content, whether utilized under fair use or used with written permission to publish, must name the Karl E. Mundt Historical & Educational Foundation, Karl E. Mundt Library, Dakota State University, as the original source for the material.

The work from which this copy was made did not include a formal copyright notice. This work may be protected by U.S. copyright law (Title 17, United States Code), which governs reproduction, distribution, public display, and other uses of protected works. Some uses may be legal with permission from the copyright holder, if the copyright on the work has expired, or if the use is fair use or compliance with the law. All use of DLSD material and content, whether utilized under fair use or used with written permission to publish, must name the Karl E. Mundt Historical & Educational Foundation, Karl E. Mundt Library, Dakota State University, as the original source for the material.

Date Digitized

2013-01-22

Transcript

YOUR WASHINGTON AND YOU! A WEEKLY REPORT from KARL MUNDT
SENATOR FROM SOUTH DAKOTA
United States Senate
"FOR A FAIR CHANCE FOR A FREE PEOPLE"
VOLUME XI - NUMBER 35 — FOR RELEASE SEPTEMBER 7th OR AFTER
"V-DAY" IN WASHINGTON. Tuesday and Wednesday of last week were "V-Days" in Washington - that is they were Harry
Vaughan's days since they provided his opportunity to appear before the Senate Investigations Committee which for three
weeks has been busy holding hearings on the "influence racket" in Washington.
As most everyone knows, General Harry Vaughan is the Military Aide to the President, received his rank as General
at the President's behest. As very few knew before the investigation began, Harry Vaughan performs many additional functions at the White House not usually associated with the title "Military Aide". Vaughan admitted most of the "extra-curricular"
functions attributed to him, denied he personally profited financially from them,
stated that many of them were performed without the President's personal knowledge.
He also admitted he had received two deep freeze units as gifts from a Chicago
businessman for whom he repeatedly "went to bat" and that he had spoken "ill-advisedly" when he told the press that they and the others (including the one to Mrs. Truman in Independence, Missouri) were "factory rejects". The factory making
the refrigerators and the donor of them both testified that they were definitely
NOT "rejects".
Among the episodes which Vaughan admitted were (1) Deep Freeze gifts from the
Chicago concern above referred to; (2) Injecting himself into the decision of
whether or not the race track operators at the Tanforan race track should get
scarce building materials (for this, Sen. McCarthy of Wisconsin said Vaughan should
resign as Veterans' Coordinator); (3) Repeatedly securing passports, ATC passage,
other contacts for John Maragon, now facing legal action for (a) perjury, (b)
smuggling (while carrying a "Harry Vaughan" letter asking special treatment of him,
(c) tax fraud, for failing to report a large part of his financial transactions the
past four or five years; (4) accepting money while in uniform - against military
regulations - from men and firms for whom he had or did perform White House favors.
Vaughan said these were campaign contributions, not retained by him, and made
either in the Kansas City primary "purge" when Truman's forces defeated Congressman
Roger Slaughter or in the fall election when Slaughter's friends and the GOP defeated Truman's successful primary campaign; (5) Securing a new automobile in Washington for a Wisconsin friend who black-marketed it at a fancy price; (6) Accepting
a campaign contribution from an attorney seeking a Presidential pardon (with success)
for a Federal prisoner. There were other equally disturbing and distressing
admissions by Vaughan.
Vaughan denied profiting personally (except in the deep freeze episode) from
his services as a "conduit" (to use the Vaughan word for it) for money passing from
White House favorites in the field of business, politics, and law to the campaign
bosses in Missouri. He denied sharing in any of Maragon's numerous and bizarre
financial transactions. He denied testimony indicating he had talked abusively to
Department of Agriculture employees whose testimony was that he had. He denied
other items in evidence although on several of them he explained his memory was
naturally "faulty" and "vague". At a time or two he changed his testimony the
second day to contradict what he said the first day after his memory had been
"Refreshed."
As this is written, President Truman has just announced he expects to keep
Vaughan as his Military Aide and White House associate. This news letter has been
interrupted at least a dozen times by reporters calling to ask, "What does Senator
Mundt think about that?" Mundt's answer: "The Democratic Governor of Indiana and
several Democratic Congressmen have asked for General Vaughan's dismissal. It is
not the province of a Republican Senator, as I see it, to determine the code of
ethics nor the standards of good behavior the President desires or requires from his
White House associates. The President is authorized to pick a Military Aide of his
own choosing; it is his decision to make whether General Vaughan's strange activities meet the specifications of what he desires in a Military Aide." -o-
"DAKOTA" ON THE AIR. Lawrence Welk and his band will soon be heard regularly on the
weekly editions of Senator Mundt's "Your Washington On The Air" radio programs.
Beginning next weekend, the South Dakota bandleader's recording of the increasingly
popular dance tune "Dakota" will be used as a theme at both beginning and end of the
broadcast. To make arrangements this office had to cut through as much red tape as
surrounds a Government Bureau. Permission had to be received from Welk, the composer; Paul Cunningham, author of the words; James C. Petrillo, Chief of the Musicians' Union; Broadway Music, Corporation, copyright owner; Standard Transcriptions, Inc. owner of transcription; American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers for broadcast rights, Radio Station WOL, Washington, D.C. for the recording. It took time but permissions were received and next week-end you can hear it if you care to. -o-
"HEADLINE HUNTING". Some writers not familiar with Washington try to dismiss Congressional Hearings as only "headline hunting" by Congressmen. The contrary is true. For 3 weeks from 4 to 15 reporters have visited us daily with inquiries. Not a news
hand-out was made - not a headline sought. The HearINGS not the HearERS made news!